Washee Ironee (1934) User Reviews

Pretty typical of an Our Gang short.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 January 2012]

Obviously, this is not the most politically correct title--a comment about the way folks referred to Chinese back in the old days. But if you can get past this, it's a pretty good Our Gang short.

This film was directed by James Parrott--a man who used to be a comic for Hal Roach Studios and guy who directed a lot of films for the studio (including films of Laurel & Hardy). He also was the brother of Charley Chase--the wonderful comic who seems to be gaining more attention in recent years due to his shorts being shown on Turner Classic Movies as well as the release of several nice DVD sets.

Waldo plays a rich kid who desperately wants to play with the Gang. But, his snooty mother wants him to stay home and practice his violin. Unlike some rich kids in these shorts, Waldo is a nice kid and you feel sorry for him. When the kids see him watching, they invite him to play--and Waldo gets REALLY filthy. Not wanting him to get in trouble, the kids decide to help him clean up--with predictable results.

The best thing about the short was the ambulance gag, but there were lots of nice moments in the film. I especially like how nice all the kids were--very accepting and decent. Well worth seeing.

In which a tea party ends in disaster

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 26 July 2017]

WASHEE IRONEE is another hilarious Our Gang short with plenty of slapstick humour to enjoy. The story sees the gang playing football with a rich kid only to get their clothing covered in mud. Their efforts to clean up end up spelling disaster for a tea party which ends with a food fight and a monkey and Pete the Pooch running amok. It's simple stuff for sure, but it also happens to be fast and furiously funny.

Anyone who is the least bit familiar with "Our Gang" . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 29 March 2018]

. . . is aware that these often deplorable "Little Rascals" call the infamous Millionaire Gentlemen's Mob home. Therefore, merely knowing that an Our Gang episode is titled something like "WASHEE IRONEE" will elicit preemptive rounds of shudders and cringing among more informed viewers with 21st Century mindsets. As many Our Gang buffs run across such a Politically Incorrect Little Rascals heading, they'll squeeze their eyes and ears tight shut after asking their Significant Other--hopefully someone with a "stronger stomach"--to preview the potentially perverse "comedy" short for them. But what about all of the folks currently between S.O.'s? As a Public Service on behalf of these unfortunate souls, I'll provide a "head's up" right here concerning how racially insensitive WASHEE IRONEE actually is. The consensus of an ad hoc panel of about 200 Asian internet pals I hastily convened is that the title itself is the most objectionable aspect of this entire 16-minute short, at least regarding those of their own orientation (Five or six of my panelists pointed out many more questionable slights regarding Black Americans in WASHEE IRONEE, especially to the dude serving as "Waldo's" butler.)

"Loads" of fun! Get it? Wash...Loads...ah never mind

[Squonk · 23 June 1999]

In 'Washee Ironee,' rich kid Waldo longs to join Spanky and the gang in a game of mud football rather than play his violin for his mother's fancy bridge party. When he sneaks away to join the gang, he ends up covered in mud, which means that gang needs to help him get cleaned up before his mother finds out. I remember watching this short on TV as a kid and thinking how great it would be to get mixed up in something like this. This short is lots of fun and is still very funny to this day. Of course, many of the best bits belong to Spanky. Look closely for an early appearance by Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas, though not as Buckwheat. Buckwheat is played by a girl in this one. Also watch out for edited versions. The cut I saw on TV as a kid had an entire sequence missing involving Spanky going to a laundromat for help from a young Asian boy. The scene where the gang tries to communicate with this boy is certainly not politicly correct, but I'd still rather see the film in it's original form.

Comin' Clean With The Little Rascals

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 22 April 2000]

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Rich kid Waldo is supposed to be practicing his violin, but he's actually playing football with the Gang on the vacant lot next door. But chaos is assured when his friends (and Pete the dog) invade his mother's Ladies' Club card party.

A funny little film. Highlights: Spanky as a football referee; Pete & the monkey. The title WASHEE IRONEE refers to the kid from the Chinese Laundry Spanky enlists to deal with Waldo's soiled (and shrunken) clothes. That's Tiny Sandford as the hapless traffic cop; Billy Gilbert dubbed the Butler's sneeze.

Washee Ironee was another hilarious Our Gang short

[tavm · 9/10 · 24 November 2014]

This Hal Roach comedy short, Washee Ironee, is the one hundred thirty-first in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the forty-third talkie. In his last appearance in the series, Wally Albright appears as Waldo, a rich kid who'd rather play football with the rest of the gang instead of playing violin for his mother and her society friends. He scores a touchdown-and gets dirty in the process just as his mother is calling him! He invites the gang to help clean up his clothes...with disastrous results! Okay, let me just say this was another hilarious Our Gang outing which shouldn't surprise since the director of this particular one was James Parrott who helmed many classic Laurel & Hardy shorts like Two Tars. In fact, there's a scene of a car pile up that's not that different from what happened in the L & H short I just mentioned! So that's a strong recommendation for Washee Ironee. P.S. This was Tommy Bond's last appearance as a regular part of the gang. He'd return a few years later as the bully, Butch. This was also Billie Thomas' last appearance as simply an extra. In the next one, he'd take over the role of Buckwheat, who'd still dress like a girl and be referred to that way for the next several shorts in the series.

Washee Ironee Dirtee

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 5 June 2017]

"Washee Ironee" is a black-and-white short film from 1934, so this one will already have its 85th anniversary two years from now. The director is James Parrott, who is mostly known today for the Laurel/Hardy Oscar-winning short comedy "The Music Box". He was relatively short-lived, so this is his last work as an actor (brief cameo) and also one of his later works as a filmmaker. The focus in this slightly under 16-minute film is on Waldo as his mom is hosting a social party, but Waldo has no intention to keep his clothes clean and instead decides to have a great time playing the dirt with the other Rascals. According to the IMDb plot summary, this film is about cleaning the clothes again, but you already guessed correctly that this plan is not exactly working out well and all turns into a huge mess. These kids are exactly the kind of people you would not want near your friends or party, at least looking at the way these parties looked back in the day. Eventually, this is another short film from the early days of sound movies and the Rascals were among the very biggest stars back then. But in terms of entertainment value, I personally feel that their films have not aged too well and this one here is no exception either. Being loud and all over the place does not equal funny in my opinion. One of the shorter works and I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

A rollicking good time!

[jonnathanson · 10 November 2002]

Here, here! Fun for all, and all for fun!

This magnificent picture features the gang in their latest wacky mixup. When rich kid Waldo gets his suit muddied whilst playing with the gang, all hilarity ensues.

Enough praise cannot be spoken for the talents of this cast -- in particular, the young Gene Reynolds. Often overlooked, Gene's acting career really took off in the 1930s. He was a strapping young lad, and quite the sex symbol in his day. If you're a die-hard Gene fan like myself, you'll also want to check out his Oscar-worthy performance in "Junior G-Men of the Air" (1942). Huzzah!

It's, ah...not good.

[JarretCo · 3 June 2002]

In fact up until the climax it's unusually bad for an Our Gang from this period. The Chinese stuff is unpleasant, the bit where the girls peep on Wally is just weird, and most of all, every time the kids all have to express unscripted eagerness and enthusiasm, it's a horrible, horrible, fake cacophony of "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!" until you want to kick every one of them through the goal posts. The chaos at the society party partially redeems it -- you can't do much to screw up monkeys throwing cream puffs at stuck-up society dames.